Prior art tires are categorized into a plurality of classes including tubeless, solid tires, tires having one inner tube, and tires having a plurality of inner tubes. All the prior art tires A may be secured to a hub B, which have a plurality of openings C for receiving the bolts of a wheel axle, as shown in FIG. 1. A tubeless, solid tire A as shown in FIG. 2A, comprises a solid body formed of an elastomeric material. The tubeless, solid tire is generally heavy because of the thickness of the solid body and does not have advantageous elastic properties. The poor elastic properties of the tubeless, solid tire results in a harder ride than a tire having air therein. A tire A having an inner tube D received therein as shown in FIG. 2B, has better elastic properties than a tubeless, solid tire, and generally provides a better and smoother ride than tubeless, solid tire. However, when air escapes from the inner tube, the tire becomes underinflated, which leads to uneven and accelerated wear and poor traction with the road surface. Additionally, a tire having an inner tube therein may be overinflated which causes uneven and accelerated wear. A tire A having a plurality of inner tubes D formed therein, as shown in FIG. 2C, suffers from the same disadvantages as the tire having one inner tube formed therein.
There still remains a need for a tubeless, airless tire that has good elastic properties for providing a smooth ride to the vehicle on which it is mounted.